The Art Virus

"Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced."

~ Leo Tolstoy

Author Leo Tolstoy believed that art was a form of consciousness and a mode of communication. What the heck does that mean? Basically that successful art has the ability to infect the viewers/readers with the same feelings the artist felt while creating. Tolstoy says:

The stronger the infection, the better is the art as art, speaking now apart from its subject matter, i.e., not considering the quality of the feelings it transmits. And the degree of the infectiousness of art depends on three conditions: 

1. On the greater or lesser individuality of the feeling transmitted.
2. On the greater or lesser clearness with which the feeling is transmitted.
3. On the sincerity of the artist, i.e., on the greater or lesser force with which the artist himself feels the emotion he transmits.

In other words. . . the more feeling that is transmitted, the more impression that art makes on the viewer/reader.

Now then, think back on the books you've read over your lifetime. Personally, my short list is Charlotte Bronte, John Steinbeck, Michael Crichton, Francine Rivers, Jessica Dotta. . . and that's naming only a few. 

Which stories did your emotions get tangled up in? What authors infected you?